Iowa doesn’t really have any professional sports teams. Sure, we have development leagues that draw some cult followers, but that’s about it. Because of this, college sports dominate the state, especially football. For Iowans, the University of Iowa-Iowa State University football game is huge. The outcome of the game affords the winning team bragging rights for a year, and it gives fans a reason to tailgate for an entire weekend.

Last year, the game was played in Iowa City (Iowa), and my friends and I stayed at my brother’s apartment. This year, it was held in Ames (Iowa State), which is only about 30 minutes from Des Moines. Kickoff was an early 11 am, so we decided to take a Des Moines-based party bus to the event. The bus departed at 5 am, and beers were cracked open immediately. I didn’t attend either school (I attended college in North Carolina), so I’m not quite as experienced as the majority of Iowa tailgaters. At Wake Forest, we showed up to our small tailgates an hour or two before the game. That is obviously not the case at Iowa or Iowa State; they both have tailgating down to a science.

As we drove to Ames before sunrise, I was absolutely shocked at the amount of traffic heading to the game. The interstate resembled rush hour in a major city. However, the drive from Des Moines to Ames only passes by a few towns and farmland. I believe over 75,000 people showed up to hang out in grass lots around the stadium. I tweeted:

Interstate is absolutely packed for 6:15 am. Party bus straight to blackout city.

However, I fared better this year (last year was rough). I knew a lot of people at the game, so wandering around to various tailgating lots curtailed the drunken shenanigans. Furthermore, the game was awesome (I love football). Iowa State shocked Iowa after an impressive 3 overtimes.

Related posts:

1. Iowa State Fair
2. Iowa State Fair
3. Food Festival and the Iowa State Capitol
4. The Animals of the Iowa State Fair…I Surprisingly Don’t Mean the People